A Marathoner

I have not paid enough attention to know exactly how much snow fell overnight, but it was a lot.  A buddy of mine from D.C. noted that they were hit with 20 inches.  That’s a bunch of powder!  So, of course, instead of celebrating the first snow of the season and that it will be a white Christmas, I immediately started wondering whether the city would have the common sense to plow the park sufficiently.  Since it is the holiday season, NYC is flooded with tourists who enjoy a stroll thru Central Park.  Therefore, I felt pretty good about the possibility of being able to run the day after NYC’s annual Blizzard of the Century. [insert eye roll over the blizzard stuff]

My wife served as the guinea pig as she runs first on the weekends, while I watch the kiddies and lounge around.  If she came back within 30 minutes of leaving, I would have known it would be a rest day.  I am happy to report she did not return for well over an hour.  Clear sailing.

The sun was shining which made the 30* temp (20* w/ wind chill) feel down right balmy.  After 2+ weeks of sub 30* weather, my body is finally adjusting.  I had a notion to go for some speedwork today.  With my new pre-dawn weekday running schedule, I don’t think I will have the time to do intervals during the week.  Saturday is the long run.  Therefore, Sunday needs to become speed day.  Not an optimal scenario, but I don’t think I have many alternatives.  Doing Yasso’s in the dark is probably not safe.  Also, my body needs to be awake for more than 15 minutes before turning on the gas.

Anyway … once I saw what I was dealing with, the slippery conditions (despite good efforts to plow the snow away) made the thought of intervals a pipe dream.  Next Sunday!  Therefore, I settled on an easy recovery run.  It took 2 miles to loosen up and shake out the junk.  Then I picked up a second wind and picked it up a little to finish with 5.5 miles at 8:30 pace.  I tend to like those shorter/recovery runs.  If they are done properly, you leave energized and feeling really good physically and mentally.  A great way to end the week.